Brighton-Fries intersection in Tonawanda to reopen

A Town of Tonawanda intersection key to students and shoppers will reopen this week, town officials were told Monday night.

The intersection of Brighton and Fries roads, which closed in mid-November, will open no later than Friday, according to Ken Maving, director of the town’s Water Resources Department. The intersection is adjacent to Kenmore East High School and along a local retail corridor that leads to Niagara Falls Boulevard and its shopping centers.

“I was out on the job site today,” Maving said during the Town Board meeting. “The contractor was wrapping up the work there.”

Work has quickly progressed along Fries Road, a significant part of phase two of the Parker-Fries sewer construction project. Construction, by Concrete Applied Technologies Corp. of Alden, is months ahead of schedule, Maving said.

Backfilling at the intersection was done Monday and will be followed by paving today and Wednesday, Maving said. The traffic signal will be reinstalled Wednesday.

Traffic should be flowing through the intersection by Thursday – or Friday at the latest, Maving said.

Also on Monday, the Town Board approved seven resolutions related to the installation of surveillance equipment to protect the waterfront of the town and neighboring municipalities against the threat of terrorism. Most of the resolutions involved memorandums of understanding with local industries on whose property the equipment will be located.

The town was awarded approximately $1.7 million from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act’s Port Security Grant Program. Infrastructure in the town is considered part of the Port of Buffalo, which is among ports nationwide that have been classified as a Group II risk on a scale of three.

At the request of state officials, the town took the lead in applying for the grant, said Police Chief Anthony J. Palombo, who said he hopes the system will be up and running by next spring.

“The advantage to us, we have the capabilities to monitor all of the security right from our station,” he said.

The City of Tonawanda and Town of Grand Island also will benefit from the installation of waterside and streetside surveillance cameras in the town’s industrial area along the Niagara River.